Extending Maternity Leave
Here in Australia, women are entitled to 12 months of unpaid maternity leave, with the time starting as soon as you stop work during your pregnancy (not necessarily the first 12 months of your baby’s life).
Daniel will be 3 months old in a few weeks - this time has disappeared in a blur of little sleep and a lot of sitting on the couch breast-feeding or holding Daniel while he slept.
The night-time sleeping is improving so I feel more human now and able to think a little more clearly again. Thank goodness, because I’m not overly pleasant when I’m tired and I don’t get much done either.
Because we’ve chosen to loosely follow Attachment Parenting principles, there is no forcing Daniel to sleep on his own and enduring controlled crying, no strict 4 hourly feedings - instead, when Daniel wants to eat, I feed him, for the amount of time he wants to feed (& he’s becoming more efficient) and when he falls asleep on my lap, I’m happy to sit there with him while he sleeps - he wont do this forever & I want to enjoy this close time with him while I can - and he is so beautiful, and smiling and “talking” - a real little treasure.
During my pregnancy, I pretty much stopped all income producing activity - due to a combination of morning sickness in the first part and then pelvic instability for the remainder, which meant no extended periods of sitting, limited walking & a lot of resting.
It was great not having to work - I think I had been filling my time with a lot of activities but not participating in something I was really passionate about. And it’s easier to see this now that I’m not in the middle of it.
Now I that I don’t have to do anything in particular, I can choose what it is I would really like to do (in terms of earning money).
So many things to choose from, but what I am realising is that going back to being an employee or a contractor isn’t going to work for me. Because there is only one of me, trading my time for earning money would mean being away from Daniel and I want to spend time with him and Warren (my husband) rather than in a job.
I have 3 choices where I can leverage my time (effectively duplicating myself, because actual cloning isn’t an option 
) each with it’s pros and cons:
- Share trading
- Investing in property
- Starting a business
For a variety of reasons, I’ve chosen option number 3, starting a business, but not a traditional business, instead it’s a franchise that has low startup capital requirement and I can do it from home.
None of these three choices has the time leveraging available straight away, but starting a business, especially the business I have chosen, allows me to get started with a small amount of capital, and build it to a point where it replaces the income I was earning before I got pregnant, which will effectively extend my maternity leave.
And the beauty of sharing it here, is that I am keeping myself accountable and hopefully on track to achieving my first goal.
Helena 
